1. Field of the Invention
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-064993, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
The present invention relates to a microscope.
Laser microscopes capable of performing 3D imaging (XYZ scanning) of a thick specimen without slicing the specimen are known in the related art (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2005-202087).
As shown in FIG. 12, a specimen can be observed with a laser microscope from the surface thereof to only a limited depth. Therefore, to acquire a Z-stack (Z-direction cross-sectional images), ideally it is just necessary to acquire a Z-stack for a certain distance from the surface, as shown in FIG. 13. However, since the specimen actually has an uneven surface shape, the start position for the Z-stack needs to be changed in each XY area, and this changing takes significant time to carry out. Therefore, in a conventional laser microscope, images have to be acquired in the entire XYZ range, as shown in FIG. 14, which increases the imaging time.
In a laser microscope disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2005-202087, the Z-scanning start position in each XY area is determined so as to reduce the movement distance in the Z direction, thereby achieving a reduction in imaging time.